Comments on: A wristwatch for NASA's curiosity team.http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team/
Comments on MetaFilter post A wristwatch for NASA's curiosity team.Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:35:29 -0800Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:35:29 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60A wristwatch for NASA's curiosity team.http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team
<a href="http://arkorobotics.com/blog/?p=93">A wristwatch for NASA's curiosity team.</a> What do you do when you are supposed to show up for work 39 minutes later than you did the previous day? You commission a special wristwatch to keep you on time.post:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:20:19 -0800fieldcannotbeblankmarsrovercuriositywatchBy: Fferrethttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568521
I'd buy one of these just for the novelty value, but I have a 10-year-old Casio <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=casio+wg-300&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">WG-300</a> that I love to death, and that has never given me a single problem. Didn't swatch do something like this back in the 80's with an 'Internet Time' watch?comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568521Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:35:29 -0800FferretBy: The Whelkhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568522
*places wallet on counter*
Just do what you have to do.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568522Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:36:10 -0800The WhelkBy: Huck500http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568524
I thought the <a href="http://marsrover.nasa.gov/spotlight/spirit/a3_20040108.html">Spirit and Opportunity link</a> was interesting, too...
I imagine it would have been hard to find a wrist device that was hackable enough to do this in 2004, thus the mechanical timepiece... although a PDA would have been a much more accurate if slightly less portable option. Cool conversation piece, though...comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568524Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:37:18 -0800Huck500By: Foci for Analysishttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568525
So Mars only has one timezone? Martian coders have it sweet.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568525Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:37:44 -0800Foci for AnalysisBy: Phantomxhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568528
It'd be pretty cool to have a watch timed up with your mission on another planet. I'd imagine looking at it and saying to friends and family, "oh look, Spirit is probably just now waking up to the birds on Mars." They'd all be tired of me real quick.
But I don't understand in the first link where they asked around to other watchmakers who replied that it couldn't be done. Is this just an extremely myopic view? Wouldn't all the adjustment that is needed is to change a gear ratio? I realize that in and of itself is really complicated in making it fit inside of existing watches that they had purchased. Isn't the trick in implementation which doesn't seem impossible?
Ah upon re-reading I now realize it was probably a business decision that said it couldn't be done.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568528Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:38:29 -0800PhantomxBy: honestcoyotehttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568530
Thanks for the link. Already have the Android app, but this would be fun too.
Also, I did not know there was a watch designed to be hackable for only 50 bucks. I'm not sure what I would do with it, but that's very hard to pass up.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568530Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:39:28 -0800honestcoyoteBy: filthy light thiefhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568531
Were they special wristwatches, or normal watches customized to run slow? <blockquote>In order to make the watches useful to the Mars Exploration Rover team, Garo had to physically attach additional specific lead weights thus precisely altering the movement of the wheels and hands on certain existing famous-maker wristwatches. Working on the 21-jeweled self-winding mechanical wristwatches was sometimes frustrating.</blockquote>
Very keen, thanks for posting!comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568531Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:40:33 -0800filthy light thiefBy: ryanrshttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568532
TI did a lot of things right with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI_MSP430">MSP430 microcontroller</a>. The development platforms in particular are cheap and very nice. That watch is great.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568532Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:42:01 -0800ryanrsBy: Huck500http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568534
After Googling for a sec:
Fossil made a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Wrist_PDA">Palm-based watch</a> that sold in 2004... $50 less than the mechanical one, and you'd just need someone to write the code... at JPL...comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568534Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:42:53 -0800Huck500By: etc.http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568535
There is no logical reason to explain why I want one of these.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568535Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:43:23 -0800etc.By: Foci for Analysishttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568538
The Wikipedia article <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timekeeping_on_Mars">Timekeeping on Mars</a> is fascinating:
<blockquote>
Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth. Thus it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth, and its day is about the same length. Its year, however, is almost twice as long as Earth's, and its orbital eccentricity is considerably larger, which means among other things that the lengths of various Martian seasons differ considerably, and sundial time can diverge from clock time much more than on Earth.
[...]
MTC is a proposed Mars analog to Universal Time (UT) on Earth. It is defined as the mean solar time at Mars's prime meridian (i.e., at the centre of the crater Airy-0).
[...]
Each lander mission so far has used its own time zone, corresponding to average local solar time at the landing location. Of the six successful Mars landers to date, five employed offsets from local mean solar time (LMST) for the lander site while the sixth (Mars Pathfinder) used local true solar time (LTST).
[...]
The term sol is used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on Mars.[6] A mean Martian solar day, or "sol", is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds.
</blockquote>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568538Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:45:57 -0800Foci for AnalysisBy: 2manyusernameshttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568542
I expected to hear that NASA spent $300k per watch or something crazy like that. Nice to see it was not what I thought it would becomment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568542Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:54:41 -08002manyusernamesBy: The Whelkhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568543
Like NASA has that kind of money.....comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568543Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:56:59 -0800The WhelkBy: Brandon Blatcherhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568558
They have a several credit cards reserved for emergencies.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568558Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:12:06 -0800Brandon BlatcherBy: localrogerhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568575
I saw this when it first turned up on Hackaday and found it interesting that he took and incorporated the suggestion of one of the Hackaday commenters (who *cough* beat me to it) for sharpening the accuracy.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568575Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:47:02 -0800localrogerBy: DUhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568578
<i>What do you do when you are supposed to show up for work 39 minutes later than you did the previous day? You commission a special wristwatch to keep you on time.</i>
I guess you'd still have to have a special watch, but I still prefer Kim Stanley Robinson's solution: 39 minutes of blank time. The clock shows 12:00 for 39 minutes, then shows 12:01. Naturally no work or anything is done during that time.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568578Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:55:21 -0800DUBy: thecaddyhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568585
Came here to make the Mars Trilogy reference; was beaten. Good to know.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568585Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:06:27 -0800thecaddyBy: notyouhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568586
<i> Naturally no work or anything is done during that time.</i>
Yeah, well, I'm still invoicing for that 39 minutes.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568586Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:06:37 -0800notyouBy: ChuraChurahttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568587
I have a few friends from undergrad involved with the Mars projects - one summer, they were kind of sequestered on Mars time doing science. It was awesome.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568587Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:09:03 -0800ChuraChuraBy: honestcoyotehttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568589
I was just thinking about the Mars Trilogy slip too.
Couldn't resist temptation and ordered the watch. When it gets in, I'll try the slip as a first project: make the watch stop for 39 mins and 35 seconds when it hits midnight, displaying "slip" on the watch face, and then pickup at 12:01 when its done.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568589Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:12:16 -0800honestcoyoteBy: localrogerhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568613
It could also be done with normal SI seconds and minutes by making each hour 61.2 minutes long, but obviously that doesn't provide for a daily 39 minutes of Zen.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568613Sun, 16 Sep 2012 10:40:05 -0800localrogerBy: dry white toasthttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568637
Serious comment: I hope someone is doing a concurrent study about the impact on the circadian rhythms of humans when you put them on a different day then the one we evolved with over tens of thousands of years. Efficiency people!comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568637Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:06:48 -0800dry white toastBy: ceribus peribushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568643
This sounds like a a modern remake of the old space pen vs pencil anecdote. Most of us would set an alarm schedule on our smart phone; NASA went and designed a special watch.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568643Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:10:18 -0800ceribus peribusBy: dirigiblemanhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568644
<i> Naturally no work or anything is done during that time.</i>
Commie!comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568644Sun, 16 Sep 2012 11:14:04 -0800dirigiblemanBy: Divine_Winohttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568689
We goons get down and boogie in the Martian timeslip.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568689Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:01:35 -0800Divine_WinoBy: idiopathhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568698
<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568643">ceribus peribus</a>: "<i>Most of us would set an alarm schedule on our smart phone; NASA went and designed a special watch.</i>"
make that bought a $50 watch and someone in house changed a few lines of code to fix the firmware - this thing (hardware + development costs) is very likely cheaper than hiring a shop to do smartphone app development would have beencomment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568698Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:09:16 -0800idiopathBy: idiopathhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568700
also I am totally buying one of those $50 watches - they come with a thermometer, accellerometer, wifi, barometer, and are very very hackable - think wrist arduinocomment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568700Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:10:39 -0800idiopathBy: localrogerhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568742
Just ordered mine from DigiKey. The RF functionality isn't wifi, but it can connect with a lot of sensors and other microcontrollers. You would be hard pressed to put together a simple card with all of the sensors and the CPU for the price of the watch, much less cram it all into a wristwatch form factor.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568742Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:05:26 -0800localrogerBy: homunculushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568747
<a href="http://io9.com/5940026/why-nasas-rover-team-lives-on-mars-time">Why NASA's rover team lives on Mars time</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568747Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:12:46 -0800homunculusBy: homunculushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568749
<a href="http://spaceindustrynews.com/nasa-to-face-1-3-billion-dollar-cut-next-year-under-sequestration/1832/">NASA to face 1.3 Billion Dollar Cut Next Year Under Sequestration</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568749Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:14:25 -0800homunculusBy: Ad hominemhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568759
I wonder how hard it would be for a watch maker to adjust an automatic watch to keep mars time.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568759Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:25:44 -0800Ad hominemBy: homunculushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568800
<a href="http://vimeo.com/49152310">Curiosity Killed The Cat</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568800Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:06:41 -0800homunculusBy: sebastienbailardhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568821
<em><em>This sounds like a a modern remake of the old space pen vs pencil anecdote. Most of us would set an alarm schedule on our smart phone; NASA went and designed a special watch.</em></em>
<small>Russian cosmonauts used pencils, and grease pencils on plastic slates until also adopting a space pen in 1969 with a purchase of 100 units for use on all future missions.[1] NASA programs previously used pencils (for example a 1965 order of mechanical pencils[2]) but because of the substantial dangers that broken-off pencil tips and graphite dust pose in zero gravity to electronics and the flammable nature of the wood present in pencils[2] a better solution was needed. NASA never approached Paul Fisher to develop a pen, nor did Fisher receive any government funding for the pen's development.[2] Fisher invented it independently, and then asked NASA to try it. After the introduction of the AG7 Space Pen, both the American and Soviet (later Russian) space agencies adopted it.</small>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_pen">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_pen</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568821Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:26:47 -0800sebastienbailardBy: DUhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568897
<i>Most of us would set an alarm schedule on our smart phone...</i>
Your smart phone is rated for space? (Protip: Van Allen Belt)comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568897Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:51:03 -0800DUBy: localrogerhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568904
DU, the JPL guys aren't in space. Their rover is in space but they're just syncing with it to maximize throughput. The guys who need the watches are right here on Earth.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568904Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:55:36 -0800localrogerBy: ceribus peribushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568932
Besides, the roaming charges for a space phone would be astronomical.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568932Sun, 16 Sep 2012 16:30:59 -0800ceribus peribusBy: DUhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568969
OICcomment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568969Sun, 16 Sep 2012 17:05:29 -0800DUBy: spacevikinghttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568977
Couple of things...
Watches weren't built by NASA, scientists had to buy them for themselves.
There were sleep scientists involved in both MER rover missions and in the Phoenix mission, but not on the Curiosity. Not sure what they learned other than it helps if you are a night owl. I'm sure someone could find papers they wrote.
Mars time sucks.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4568977Sun, 16 Sep 2012 17:09:53 -0800spacevikingBy: dhartunghttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4569076
<em>The guys who need the watches are right here on Earth.</em>
They only <b>work</b> in space.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4569076Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:11:02 -0800dhartungBy: eritainhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4569115
<b>dry white toast:</b> Cavers and South Pole researchers and other people without solar cues tend to run longer than 24 hours. I've heard 25 hours, specifically, mentioned a couple of times as a fairly typical quasi-diurnal rhythm. So the Mars team are not outside the bounds of human experience with that. (On the other hand, I've also heard that South Pole researchers all get very weird, but there are definitely other factors than diurnal rhythm there.)comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4569115Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:56:15 -0800eritainBy: Mitheralhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4569125
<b>honestcoyote</b> <a href='http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568530'>writes</a> <em>"Also, I did not know there was a watch designed to be hackable for only 50 bucks. I'm not sure what I would do with it, but that's very hard to pass up."</em>
No kidding. The Mars watch is interesting, the sensor laden, user programmable wrist watch is like something out of science fiction. I love living in the future.
<b>DU</b> <a href='http://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4568578'>writes</a> <em>"I guess you'd still have to have a special watch, but I still prefer Kim Stanley Robinson's solution: 39 minutes of blank time. The clock shows 12:00 for 39 minutes, then shows 12:01. Naturally no work or anything is done during that time."</em>
Power engineering? Air traffic control? ER? Security? Or was there some scheme in place to stagger the blank time?comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4569125Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:11:51 -0800MitheralBy: livejamiehttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4570034
This seems like something the <a href="http://getpebble.com/">Pebble Watch</a> could do pretty easilycomment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4570034Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:21:18 -0800livejamieBy: localrogerhttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4570062
Yeah, well the Pebble is three times as expensive and the battery only lasts a week instead of over a year. But it does have a general purpose graphic display and true internet capability, if you need that sort of thing on your wrist.comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4570062Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:36:53 -0800localrogerBy: homunculushttp://www.metafilter.com/119976/A-wristwatch-for-NASAs-curiosity-team#4589176
<a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/curiosity-water-on-mars/">Curiosity Rover Steps Right Into Ancient Riverbed on Mars</a>comment:www.metafilter.com,2012:site.119976-4589176Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:08:01 -0800homunculus